Jussie Smollett, 37, is finished. His acting career is over. He may even go to jail.
All because he invented a stupid lie. And for some inexplicable reason, this dunce decided to tell that lie to the world.
Those who are wasting a lot of energy thinking he got away with his hoax are wrong. He got away with nothing.
Let’s Examine the Facts
First, he lost his acting gig. He starred in a TV show called Empire, where he made between $65,000-$130,000 per episode, according to published reports.
Empire showrunner Brett Mahoney confirmed to TVLine that Smollett won’t appear again on Empire.
According to IMBD, he is not appearing anywhere else. His acting career is in the toilet. Who would hire him with his baggage?
He is also an R&B singer. The sales of his music are flat. No one is buying his music because he is seen as a creepy impostor. People want authenticity in music.
He May Yet Go to Jail
Republican Dan K. Webb will be special prosecutor looking into Smollett and his Democratic friends.
A special prosecutor – a Republican no less – in this Democrat town of Chicago – has been appointed to investigate the matter. A former US attorney, Dan K. Webb, was appointed special prosecutor last week to re-examine the Smollett case and why charges were dropped against him. He was appointed by Judge Michael Toomin, also a Republican, during a hearing in a Chicago criminal court.
Toomin ruled in June the case was rife with “unprecedented irregularities” and needed a special prosecutor to restore the public’s faith in the justice system. Webb has authority to convene a grand jury and bring new charges against Smollet or anyone else involved in the case.
Republican interest in the case does not bode well for Smollett who has strong anti-Trump leanings.
Smollett has called Trump “a pig, a racist, a horrible human being…. If anything, sadly, the person who was falsely elected to be president of the United States is actually the least patriotic person that we’ve seen in a long time.”
Activist Jussie Smollett had a lot to say about the liar Donald Trump.
He told HuffPost, “I think that [Trump] is truly one of the worst people that has ever walked the face of this planet.… …. a fascist dictator … and you’re gonna tell me that this doesn’t feel like the beginning of the Third Reich?”
What Can the Little Fella Do?
It is hard to imagine anything Jussie Smollett can do to get out of this mess. He continues to promote the lie that he was attacked and did not stage the hoax.
Every day – since he got caught – he has to get up and continue telling the same lie to the world and living the same lie. And fewer and fewer people listen. Who believes him? Maybe his mother. Maybe even she knows he’s lying.
It is a challenge. How long can a man live a lie before the world, pretending he is a victim when he staged an attack on himself to further his career by using and inciting racism and homophobia?
He could admit his mistake, admit he lied and beg forgiveness. The public, however, is not very forgiving – not when they are lied to the way Smollett lied. He will never be trusted. Nothing he says will ever be taken on trust again.
His is a lifetime sentence. Even if he is not prosecuted, this will be always remembered about Jussie Smollett: He wanted to set race against race, and people against each other – for himself. For his sole gain.
This dude is through. He’s all washed up.
A weepy Jussie Smollett says he is a victim of white hate, racism, and homophobia.
And the legal entanglement goes beyond the new special prosecutor. The City of Chicago is suing Smollett in federal court for investigation fees [mostly overtime for officers] for $130,000. It is based on his lying and costing the city money. Smollett is defending himself saying it is not proven he lied and that the city has not proven that the overtime expenses are due to him anyway.
This will ultimately be settled or tried.
The Fool Fights on
Smollett hired a public relations group that last week emailed a statement to the media saying that “every iota” of his story to the police about being attacked by two white Trump supporters is 100 percent true.
The statement read, “Regardless of what is said by the city, every iota of information Jussie Smollett has stated has been fully corroborated by the police documents. Not documents from his PR or legal team but documents generated by the very people who continuously claim it as fact that he is guilty. But this requires people to look at the actual evidence which nobody seems to want to do.”
Is There Doubt It Was a Hoax?
Let’s give Smollett the benefit of the doubt for a moment and retell his story.
Jussie Smollett did not take off the noose around his neck when he told police what happened to him.
We will use a timeline:
January 29, 2019
Chicago police report to Smollett’s Chicago residence around 2:45 a.m. CT.
Smollett, wearing a rope around his neck, tells them he was walking home from Subway in subzero weather at around 2 am when he was approached by two men who got his attention by calling him “Empire,” followed by homophobic and racial slurs.
He said they then began punching him in the face, placed the rope around his neck and poured bleach on him.
Smollett told police his assailants were wearing MAGA hats and yelled “This is MAGA country!” before running away from the scene.
While being interviewed by police, Smollett kept the rope around his neck as “evidence” of what happened.
After filing the report, he followed an officer’s suggestion to seek medical treatment and he went to the emergency room at Northwestern Medical Center. He was treated for minor bruises and was released.
Smollett later told the story to Robin Roberts of Good Morning America, adding some extra details.
He said he was on a food run when he heard someone trying to get his attention.
“I heard ‘Empire,’ and I don’t answer to ‘Empire.’ My name ain’t ‘Empire,’ and I didn’t answer,” he said. “I kept walking, and then I heard “(Faggot) ‘Empire’ (Nigger).’ So, I turned around and I said, ‘(What) the fuck did you just say to me?’
“And I see the attacker, masked and he said, ‘This MAGA country, Nigger’. Punches me right in the face. So I punched his (expletive) back. And then we started tussling and it was very icy. We ended up tussling by the stairs, fighting, fighting, fighting. There was a second person involved who was kicking me in my back, and then it just stopped. And they ran off.
“I look down and I see that there’s a rope around my neck.”
Smollett estimated the attack could’ve lasted 30 seconds.
“I noticed the rope around my neck, and I started screaming,” he told Roberts. “I said, ‘There’s a fucking rope about my neck.'”
Smollett said he could not give detailed descriptions of his assailants.
“I can’t tell you what color their eyes were, and I did not see anything except the second person I saw running away,” he said. “And the first person, I saw his stature. I gave the description as best as I could. You have to understand also that it’s Chicago, in winter. People can wear ski masks and nobody’s going to question that.”
January 30, 2019
At once, the Chicago Police Department began investigating the incident as a “possible” hate crime. After reviewing hundreds of hours of surveillance camera footage, Chicago Police found video of Smollett walking downtown but found nothing showing an attack.
They also found video of two people whom they called “persons of interest” because they were in the area at the time. It turned out those two men left for Nigeria that very day.
In addition, it came out that Smollett had received a threatening letter sent to Fox’s Chicago studios, one week prior to the attack. It contained a white powder later determined to be Tylenol. {Police believe that Smollett sent the letter to himself.]
February 1, 2019
Right from the start, Cook County State Attorney Kim Foxx wanted to get out of prosecuting the case. In a text message between Foxx and her chief ethics officer, April Perry, Foxx asked how likely it would be for the FBI to take over the Smollett hate crime investigation.
Perry replied the FBI would be willing. “The only trick would be massaging CPD’s ego a little,” Perry wrote.
Foxx replied she was going to convince Chicago Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson of the FBI role.
Kim Foxx, a Democrat, was elected in November 2016 and oversees an office of 800 attorneys and 1,500 employees. She is endorsed by the Cook County Democratic Party.
Foxx may have been persuaded to try to get the FBI to jump in on this after she had been in touch with Chicago attorney and Michelle Obama’s former chief of staff, Tina Tchen, a Democrat who was advising Foxx on how to handle the matter.
Michelle Obama’s former chief of staff, the Democrat, Tina Chen wanted to help Jussie Smollett and Kim Foxx make the most of this curious situation. Her role will likely be investigated by Special Prosecutor Dan Webb.
Meantime, other prominent Democrats rushed to support Smollett. Chicago congressman Rep. Bobby Rush contacted FBI Director Christopher Wray requesting that the agency open “an immediate and sweeping civil rights investigation into the racist and homophobic attack” on Smollett.
Bobby Rush saw the Smollet hate crime as an opportunity to pass legislation making lynching a hate crime.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker urged his colleagues to support Rush’s bill designating lynching as a federal hate crime.
Numerous celebrities wrote Smollett messages of support, including his Empire co-star Taraji P. Henson, who wrote on Instagram, “Hate will not win.”
Taraji P. Henson said: “Hate will not win.” It is not clear if she thinks lies also will not win.
February 1, 2019
In his first public statement after the attack, Smollett boldly said, “Let me start by saying that I’m OK. My body is strong, but my soul is stronger. More importantly, I want to say thank you. The outpouring of love and support from my village has meant more than I will ever be able to truly put into words….
“These types of cowardly attacks are happening to my sisters, brothers and non-gender conforming siblings daily. I am not and should not be looked upon as an isolated incident…. We will talk soon and I will address all details of this horrific incident but I need a moment to process. Most importantly, during times of trauma, grief and pain, there is still a responsibility to lead with love. It’s all I know. And that can’t be kicked out of me.”
February 2, 2019
Within a few days of the attack, Smollett kept a previously scheduled performance at a Los Angeles club. He told fans, “I had to be here tonight, y’all. I couldn’t let those (expletives) win.”
“I fought … back” he said tearfully.
Jussie Smollett gave a defiant concert just days after he said he was attacked. So brave.
February 13, 2019
The two men seen on surveillance video, identified as the Osundairo brothers, were arrested on Feb. 13 at O’Hare International Airport after returning from Nigeria. The Osundairos are US-born, of Nigerian descent and live in Chicago.
Investigators reviewed phone records between Smollett and the brothers, including calls from when the brothers were in Nigeria after the alleged attack. During questioning, detectives learned that at least one of the brothers had appeared on “Empire”.
Abel had served as a stand-in for a character named “Kai”, who is Smollett’s love interest on “Empire.” Text messages between Smollett and Abel show Smollett had requested him to provide him with the drug ecstasy.
For nearly 48 hours – the limit police could hold them – Ola Osundairo, 27, and Abel Osundairo, 25, were interrogated until, police said, they confessed: Smollett, whom they knew through “Empire” and working out together, had paid them to help him stage a hoax attack.
February 14, 2019
Jussie Smollett bears his soul on Good Morning America with Robin Roberts.
Meantime, Smollett, evidently unaware that his alleged attackers had been arrested, appeared on Good Morning America.
In a lengthy interview with Robin Roberts, Smollett said he would have been taken more seriously if only his assailants weren’t white.
“It feels like if I had said it was a Muslim, or a Mexican, or someone black, I feel like the doubters would’ve supported me a lot more, and that says a lot about the place that we are in our country right now,” Smollet said on TV.
Smollett got emotional too.
“It’s the attackers, but it’s also the attacks,” said Smollett, scolding Americans. “It’s not that you don’t believe this is the truth; you don’t even want to see this is the truth.”
As for the motivation behind his attack, Smollett guessed it was his opposition to that horrible man President Donald Trump, saying, “I can only go off of their words.”
Smollett told Roberts he gets “threatened all the time” through social media, acknowledging he is “sometimes maybe too outspoken, but it’s who I am.”
Smollett provided more details on the threatening letter he received at Fox’s Chicago studio, which is being investigated by the FBI.
He said he believed the letter was linked to his assault “because on the letter, it had a stick figure hanging from a tree with a gun pointing towards it with the words that said ‘Smollett, Jussie you will die,'” he said, adding that the return address was simply listed as “MAGA.”
The prospect of his attackers not being brought to justice brought Smollett to tears.
“I was talking to a friend and I said, ‘I just want them to find them.’ And she said, ‘Sweetie, they’re not going to find them.’ That just made me so angry because (that means) I’m just gonna be left here with this? They get to go free and go about their life and possibly attack someone else, and I’m here, left with the aftermath of this bull? That not cool to me, that’s not OK.
“So, I understand how difficult it will be to find them but we gotta. I still want to believe, with everything that has happened, that there’s something called justice…. I will never be the man this did not happen to. I am forever changed, and I don’t subscribe to the idea that everything happens for a reason, but I do subscribe to the idea that we have the right and responsibility to make something meaningful out of the things that happen to us – good and bad.”
February 15, 2019
The following day, little Jussie’s world began to fall apart.
Anthony Guglielmi of the CPD said the two “persons of interest” are in custody but have not been charged with a crime. After being held for nearly 48 hours, the men were released without being charged. But police said the “investigation had shifted” following interviews with them.
Police said the men, two Nigerian nationals, worked with Smollett on the set of “Empire,” which was filmed in Chicago.
Smollett’s lawyers replied, “As a victim of a hate crime who has cooperated with the police investigation, Jussie Smollett is angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with,” adding that one of the brothers was Smollett’s personal trainer. [The little liar was prepared to pretend that he did not know that it was his friends, the Osundairo brothers, who attacked him.]
Police also said that Smollett was now being investigated as a suspect for allegedly orchestrating his own attack.
“Jussie Smollett is now officially classified as a suspect in a criminal investigation by #ChicagoPolice for filing a false police report (Class 4 felony),” police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi posted on Twitter.
Police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said that Smollett was a suspect in his own attack. Bad news for Jussie.
February 16, 2019
Police said the investigation “shifted” after detectives questioned the two brothers. The brothers told Chicago police that they were paid $3,500 by Smollett to stage the attack on him.
Smollett’s attorneys issued a statement saying Smollett would continue to cooperate with police but felt “victimized” by reports that he might have been involved in the attack.
“Nothing is further from the truth and anyone claiming otherwise is lying,” a statement from Smollett attorneys Todd Pugh and Victor P. Henderson said.
Adding to the appearance of Smollett’s guilt, police said they found records in the Chicago home of one of the brothers that showed they purchased rope from a hardware store that was used in the alleged attack.
February 17, 2019
With the bad news of Smollett looking like he may have staged his own attack and having wanted to bail from the very start, Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx announced she was recusing herself from the investigation.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the decision to recuse herself was made to address potential questions of impartiality based upon familiarity with potential witnesses in the case,” Tandra Simonton, a spokeswoman for Foxx, said in a statement.
Instead of removing her entire office from the probe, Foxx appointed her top deputy, Joe Magats, to act in her stead.
February 18, 2019
In a statement issued by Smollett’s attorneys, Todd Pugh and Victor P. Henderson, the lawyers confirmed to USA TODAY that Smollett knew the Osundairo brothers and employed one as his trainer to get him physically ready for a music video.
Furthering the lie, Smollett’s attorneys said Smollett was “angered and devastated by recent reports that the perpetrators are individuals he is familiar with. It is impossible to believe that this person could have played a role in the crime against Jussie or would falsely claim Jussie’s complicity.”
February 20, 2019
Hours after a follow-up interview with Smollett’s legal team, police classified him as a suspect in a criminal investigation for filing a false police report and presented evidence to a grand jury which approved felony charges of disorderly conduct and filing a false police report.
Smollett was charged by police with one Class 4 felony count of disorderly conduct for filing a false police report.
February 21, 2019
Jussie Smollett was arrested, jailed briefly, then released on bond.
Smollett turned himself in, was arrested and briefly jailed, before being released on $100,000 bond.
At a press conference, Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson told reporters that Smollett staged the attack to look like a hate crime in order to “take advantage of the pain and anger of racism to promote his career.”
Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson minced no words in his public statement — Jussie Smollett was guilty of faking his own attack.
Johnson said, “First Smollett attempted to gain attention by sending a false letter that relied on racial homophobic and political language. When that didn’t work, Smollett paid $3,500 to stage this attack… The stunt was orchestrated by Smollett because he was dissatisfied with his salary so he concocted a story about being attacked…. I am left hanging my head asking ‘why?’ Why would anyone – especially an African-American man – use the symbolism of a noose to make false accusations.”
Johnson added, “Bogus police reports cause real harm. They do harm to every legitimate victim who is in need of support by police and investigators as well as the citizens of this city. … I’m offended by what happened and I am also angry.”
March 7, 2019
It went to a grand jury and within weeks a felony indictment was filed against Smollett in the Circuit Court of Cook County alleging 16 felony counts of disorderly conduct, namely filing a false police report.
In a four-page court document laying out the allegations, prosecutors allege Smollett hired brothers, Abimbola “Abel” Osundairo and Olabinjo “Ola” Osundairo, to buy masks and a rope — transactions recorded on surveillance video. Smollett instructed Abel to “not hurt him too badly and give him a chance to appear to fight back,” according to the filing.
March 11, 2019
The attorney for the Osundairo brothers, Gloria Schmidt, said the brothers were duped by Smollett.
“This entire thing started because they put their trust in the wrong person, someone who works with them, someone who could help their careers, and then he betrays them,” she told “CBS This Morning..
“They felt their friend would not put them in a situation where they are now labeled as someone who would commit a hate crime. They did not know that their loyalty to him would be betrayed. They find themselves in a situation where they are tremendously regretful.”
The Osundairo brothers claim they did not know what Jussie Smollett was planning to do. They trusted him and played along – for a fee of $3,500 – to pretend to beat him up.
She said the Osundairo brothers have a $3,500 check Smollett gave them.
Schmidt told CBSN that the brothers are cooperating with the investigation conducted by Chicago police and confirmed the brothers cooperated with the grand jury examining the case. She also confirmed that they are not facing any charges.
“This entire thing started because they put their trust in the wrong person,” Schmidt said. “You have someone here who is a celebrity type, someone who is in a position of trust, someone who works with these people, someone who is able to help their careers if he so wants to, and then he betrays them.”
She said her clients “manned up” and testified in front of a grand jury.
March 14, 2019
Smollett returned to court to enter a not-guilty plea before Judge Steven G. Watkins.
March 23, 2019
Meantime, behind the scenes, powerful forces were at work to thwart police efforts to prosecute Smollett. An email from Smollett’s attorney, Patricia Brown Holmes, to assistant state’s attorney Risa Lanier concerned discussions to end the prosecution of Smollett.
“Jussie flew in this morning and is going to do 15 hours of volunteer work at PUSH over the weekend. I will call you Monday morning about advancing the matter to judge (sic) Watkins on Tuesday or Wednesday for dismissal as outlined,” Smollett’s attorney wrote. “I will also have some proposed language for you to review as well.”
March 26, 2019
It worked.
The State Attorney’s Office moved to drop all 16 counts in the Indictment. The Court granted the motion and dismissed the case against Smollett.
Foxx said the practice of dropping charges in exchange for community service and restitution is not uncommon for the Class 4 felonies that Smollett was charged with. Foxx also said the community’s anger over Smollett’s allegedly false story was no reason to prosecute him, adding she preferred to save prosecutors’ resources for “the most serious crimes.”
She also said the charges were excessive.
“After reviewing all of the facts and circumstances of the case, including Mr. Smollett’s volunteer service in the community and agreement to forfeit his bond [of $100,000] to the City of Chicago, we believe this outcome is a just disposition and appropriate resolution to this case,” read a statement from the office of the Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx, sent to USA TODAY by her spokeswoman, Tandra Simonton.
Smollett’s legal team issued a statement, stressing that the charges were dropped, and not because of a plea deal.
The Fool Gets a Reprieve
So Jussie enjoyed a few months of freedom and time to continue to claim he was a true victim. It looked like he might live this down with nothing being settled one way or the other. Then the Republican special prosecutor was appointed last week and will now reopen the investigation.
Based on the partisan nature of the investigation, Smollett’s future looks a little grim. Someone will have to explain why the charges were dropped and at some point, the full lie may be exposed.
The Osundairo brothers will likely testify again before a grand jury and this time, there will be no friendly Democratic prosecutor to arrange to drop the charges so they never tell their side of the story.
Foxx herself may have to testify.
And Smollett will be on center stage again – to defend his lie. He won’t likely be able to wiggle out a second time.
If not for the special prosecutor this may have died out with a cloud around Smollett lingering but nothing definite to prove it one way or the other. Now the whole thing will be minutely examined by Republicans, not friendly Democrats.
Smollett is about to go through the wringer once again and you can best believe this time there will not be a sudden dropping of charges in the case.
The public has the right to know if this rascal made up the whole story. And if he did – how deranged he was – since he could have caused great race hatred and homophobic turmoil.
It is now police against prosecutor [The Chicago police want Foxx’s head], Republicans against Democrats. The truth versus a liar or liars.
The conflict itself promises fulsome revelations.
One wonders, if Jussie Smollett could wake up again on the morning of January 28, would he do it all over again?
Would he tell the same lie?
